Where they stand

Unsure: Laure Quinlivan. She wants more information about the administration’s deficit reduction plans before voting.

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Come to Cincinnati.com at noon Wednesday for live coverage of City Manager Milton Dohoney’s budget deficit presentation and at 2 p.m. for City Council’s regular meeting. Follow on Twitter @janeprendergast. Use #cincyparking to join the conversation.

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If there’s an issue more controversial than Cincinnati’s parking lease, it’s cutting police officers and firefighters – and they’re tied together on City Council’s agenda today.

Supporters of the plan to lease most of Cincinnati’s parking system to the Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority need one more vote to pass it. That’s Councilwoman Laure Quinlivan’s vote. She’s leaning toward it, she says, but wants to know first how the administration plans to fill the $10 million deficit that’s projected to remain for next year even after the city uses $25 million of the $92 million it would get upfront for the parking deal.

She gets that budget presentation at noon today at a special meeting of council’s budget committee. It’s there that she’ll bring up an issue that has become her mantra – “right-sizing” the police and fire departments – she told The Enquirer.

She thinks it’s “ridiculous” that since 2000, the police and fire budgets have decreased less than 1 percent while the rest of the city’s departments have been cut more than 40 percent, city budget figures show.

She would like her council colleagues to take back the directive they put in the budget late last year that required the administration to do recruit classes in 2014 for police and fire. That’s not a make-or-break thing, though, for her to vote for the parking plan.

“I want it public, a public discussion because I think part of what we need to do is educate the public,” Quinlivan said Tuesday. “I don’t want to tie the administration’s hands so they have to do things they can’t afford to do.”

Kathy Harrell, president of the Fraternal Order of Police, said Quinlivan’s “just putting on her show like she always does. The bottom line is she’s going to be a ‘yes’ vote because she’s going to do what the mayor tells her to do.”

City Manager Milton Dohoney Jr. has said it’s too early to say exactly what budget cuts he might recommend. Those will come to council in May for a vote before the fiscal year starts July 1.

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But he will “lay out his approach, his considerations, things he might be considering,” said Meg Olberding, his spokeswoman.

Dohoney’s “Plan B” in case the parking lease doesn’t pass calls for 344 layoffs, including 189 in the police department and 80 in the fire department.

Harrell called “Plan B” a gift from Dohoney to council members – all but Cecil Thomas and Vice Mayor Roxanne Qualls face re-election this fall – to use for political cover.

“They can say they only supported the parking plan,” she said, “because they didn’t want to lay off cops.”

Council is expected to vote on the parking plan at its regular 2 p.m. meeting.

A special council meeting Tuesday night was called just for a second of three necessary readings of the parking ordinances. But what was supposed to be a quick meeting turned into a 20-minute debate over whether Christopher Smitherman could split them into two – one to lease the parking system, the other to appropriate the money coming in from that lease.

Smitherman thought he’d split them in committee Monday, as did other members. But City Solicitor John Curp said splitting the revenue from the appropriation would put council in a tough spot if one passes but the other doesn’t.

Mayor Mark Mallory told Smitherman he could try to split them at their third reading today, adjourning with, “We’ve had enough fun tonight.”

Hamilton County Commissioners weighed in, sending letters to Mallory in opposition to the plan.

Questions and answers

Q: What about this negative audit of parking company ACS?

A: In 2007, an audit found that in Washington, D.C., where Affiliated Computer Services operates the meters, meters were broken and thousands of tickets were improperly issued. It also found a 900 percent increase in complaints. Xerox, which bought ACS in 2010, says this audit was based on incorrect information. David Cummins, a Xerox vice president, told council Monday that things must not be that bad since the district just entered into another parking contract with Xerox.

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Q: Commissioner Todd Portune and others have said this parking deal would ban all rail – except the streetcar – from the city for 30 years. True?

A: No. Mass transit was among 15 things listed that could adversely affect the terms of the parking lease. If rail went through, for example, many of the meters counted on by Xerox could be gone, changing the deal. The city removed that language after it prompted confusion.

Q: Why can’t casino revenue be used to help balance the budget?

A: City Manager Milton Dohoney doesn’t want to rely too much on casino revenue until he can see how much comes in over the next few years. The city currently estimates $10 million for this year, $4 million of which is dedicated to Focus 52, an effort to help fund transformative development projects in neighborhoods.

Q: If the parking plan doesn’t pass, what will the impact on the budget be?

A: Council would have to identify $35.6 million in cuts or additional revenue for the fiscal year that begins July 1. To close that gap without a new money source would require cuts similar in magnitude to those outlined in Dohoney’s Plan B, which proposed 344 layoffs, cutting police and fire recruit classes and cutting all funding to human services agencies. Dohoney: “Those cuts would not position the city for growth and are to be avoided.”

Q: How can the city get out of this lease?

A: The city can’t simply choose to get out. The Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority would have to default in some way.

Q: What improvements will come if the plan passes?

A: The total estimated cost of upgrades to the parking system is $98 million over the life of the lease, which is 30 years for meters, 50 years for lots and garages. Nearly $13 million in meter upgrades is promised, including wireless technology and meters that accept credit cards. A new Sycamore Street garage with 725 spaces will cost more than $14 million. More than $71 million will be spent over the 50 years to maintain lots and garages.